Chapter Four, 'Food Taboo'
Yang Zhao's hand shook and he almost threw the wooden box to the ground.
She took a deep breath, held the wooden box and respectfully came to the big ginkgo tree.
"Uncle, are you also interested? I happen to have little knowledge. Can you help me find out if it is worth it? If it is really a treasure? I will borrow flowers to offer filial piety to you, old man."
She said sweetly, and her hands were not slow in her movements. She put the wooden box on the ground gently, slowly opened the lid, and took a quick glance.
There is a book, three small black metal blocks and a small white porcelain bottle inside.
She didn't dare to look closely, so she put the wooden box away and stood up consciously and took a few steps back.
The air was quiet for a while, then suddenly I heard a chuckle, and then I saw the book in the box slowly flying up and settling in mid-air.
Then, as if a pair of invisible hands were opening the book page by page.
Yang Zhao stared at this scene dumbfounded. Although she was mentally prepared, her outlook on life was still a bit shattered.
The book was not thick, and I finished flipping through it in a short time. Then the book fell to the ground, as if it was thrown away as rubbish.
Then the wooden box floated up, and invisible forces turned it around and even tore it apart.
The metal blocks and small porcelain bottles inside the box also fell to the floor.
After a while, the fragments of the wooden box also fell down.
For another long while, there was no sound.
Yang Zhao asked softly and tentatively: "Uncle Master, can you give me these things on the ground?"
"It was originally something you found, can I still take advantage of it?"
Then, the big ginkgo tree changed its voice.
"Then search the rest of the house! Maybe you can find some more money."
Yang Zhao came to his senses and realized that the three black metal particles on the ground were silver. The reason why they turned black was probably due to oxidation.
How come you follow chemistry in this regard?
Yang Zhao knelt down and picked up the three pieces of silver. Then he picked up the small porcelain vase and shook it curiously. He heard that there was something solid inside.
She uncorked the bottle and poured the contents onto the ground. It turned out to be the carcass of a beetle the size of a little finger. It was golden and beautiful.
"Uncle Master, do you know what this little bug is?"
"It's just a hearing ear. It takes a long time to cultivate and has no value. It can only be worn after death so that you can understand what the people here say." The words were very disdainful.
This is a translator, Yang Zhao was overjoyed. Now biology is going crazy.
No, biology has gone crazy after seeing this giant ginkgo tree.
Yang Zhao happily put the insects into the porcelain vase.
Finally, he picked up the book on the ground.
The pages of this book are yellowed and the paper is very brittle. It must be quite old.
Yang Zhao flipped through it carefully and found that it was a "Food Taboo". It mainly wrote about the name of the thing, what it looked like, whether it could be eaten, and finally a comment on whether it tasted good or not.
There are not many traditional Chinese characters, and most of them are in vernacular.
She didn't dare to take a closer look, so she placed the book on the ground again, picked up the fragments of the wooden box scattered everywhere, and placed them on top of the book.
The wind was still blowing now, and she was afraid that the book would be damaged.
Then, he put the silver and porcelain bottle into his pocket.
Yang Zhao is very lucky now. For the convenience of work, she wears a high school sports uniform, which is strong and stain-resistant and has big pockets.
It has no shortcomings except that it doesn't look good.
After packing these things up, he re-entered the house and rummaged around carefully.
I have been busy for more than an hour and have gained nothing.
Yang Zhao got out of the house, plucked the spider silk from his body, patted the soil, and walked respectfully to the big ginkgo tree.
"Uncle Master, I didn't find anything this time."
After waiting for a while, no one responded. She didn't care, so she found a place to sit down and take a rest.
Seeing that it was getting dark now, she made up her mind to stay here for the night.
She sat for a while and then stood up. Even though she felt uncomfortable all over, she did not dare to rest for too long.
But as the sun went down, the temperature dropped significantly, not to mention she was also hungry.
"Uncle Master, do you know what to eat on the mountain?"
No one answered, and Yang Zhao didn't feel embarrassed.
She found a well in the temple, lay down and looked at it, and found that it was already dry.
There was nothing to eat in the temple, so Yang Zhao had no choice but to go out and look for it.
The trees on this mountain are not very tall, and they are quite twisted.
Her eyes wandered back and forth among the tree crowns, and she soon found the bird's nest.
In this unfamiliar place, bird eggs are the safest food.
Although she had a copy of "Food Taboo" in her hand, she didn't trust herself to recognize it.
Yang Zhao first found a shorter tree and climbed up slowly. The children in the village were wild.
When she saw any eggs, she put most of them in her pocket, leaving only one or two in the nest.
After climbing up five trees, she collected twelve eggs.
After climbing down, Yang Zhao felt that his hands and feet were weak, his head hurt like needles, and his breath was hot.
This is a fever.
She didn't dare to stay outside, so she picked up some small dead branches and dragged her tired body back to the temple.
First put down the dead branches, then carefully take out the eggs and put them next to the book.
Then, I picked up some scattered window boards in the yard, built a "well" shape on the stone road, and placed small dead branches in the middle of the "well".
I found some dry grass in the yard and put it underneath.
She dusted off the grass blades on her body, walked to the big ginkgo tree, bowed and bowed.
"Uncle Master, you see the weather is getting colder and colder. Can you please light a fire for me?"
After a while, I heard only a chuckle.
"Huh, you are quite thoughtful!"
Then there was a bang, and the wooden frame that was erected caught fire.
"Thank you so much, Uncle Yang Zhao." She bowed her head and thanked her, not daring to miss a step.
Looking at the burning fire, Yang Zhao felt the fire in his heart suddenly rise.
Practice! You must practice!
She cleared the weeds around the fire and piled them together.
Spread six bird eggs on the ground, burn them with a burning firewood, and simply sterilize them, then crack open the eggshells and eat the eggs raw.
She was too thirsty to eat cooked eggs. But these eggs tasted good too.
The wind on the mountain became stronger and stronger, and Yang Zhao realized that she could not sleep outside.
Find a nearby house that has not collapsed and throw out the debris inside.
Use burning firewood to carefully burn the floor and walls to scare away some small insects, which can save a lot of trouble.
Like ants carrying food, she moved the fire into the house little by little, but did not add new firewood. She was afraid that the house would be set on fire.
The house had no windows, no doors, and even a hole in the roof, so she didn't have to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning.
Spread the weeds piled in the yard far away from the fire, where she will sleep.
Looking at the remaining six eggs, she ate them anyway. This was in the mountains, and there were many small animals active at night. These six eggs were not enough for them to steal.
Chapter completed!